Exercising Plans

In Addison County, we identify and prioritize training and exercises during an annual training and exercise workshop.

Emergency operations plans (EOP) must be “exercised” to make sure they are up-to-date and that everyone involved understands their role. Think of “exercising” in this context like “practicing.” Just like athletes practice specific skills that will be performed as needed in a game, responding agencies or organizations need to practice meeting capabilities that could be called on in an emergency event. Exercises are capabilities-driven rather than event-driven. Granted the scenario may be a train derailment, but the capabilities being exercised such as activating the emergency operations center, requesting a state resource such as the state HazMat (hazardous materials) team, and evacuating a school could apply to many other scenarios as well.